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SALEM -- The city of Salem will be partnering with the county to secure its own supplier for road salt this year.
City council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize City Service Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello to purchase road salt by advertising for bids with the Columbiana County Engineer's Office and entering a contract for the purchase rather than participating in the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)'s annual contract.
During the city council's previous meeting on July 7, Cappuzzello said that the bid for the ODOT contract for 2027 had come in at $151 per ton, an increase of approximately $92 per ton from the approximately $59 per ton price last year. Cappuzzello said that the city had budgeted approximately $120,000 to purchase salt for next year based on the city's average annual usage, and that it would cost an additional $150,000 to purchase the same amount of salt as last year at the ODOT price, and that he had been coordinating with the Columbiana County Engineer's Office, as well as the cities of East Liverpool and Columbiana, and the village of East Palestine to secure a potential direct supplier out of Kansas.
On Tuesday, Cappuzzello told council that potential supplier was a good fit to directly supply the other communities, as the amount of salt they were purchasing came in under the $80,000 max for direct purchases. However, with the county looking to purchase 5,000 tons and Salem purchasing 1,600 tons, the purchase would exceed that cap and must be put out for bid.
"We're going to bring in 1,600 tons, which is about 20% less than we did last year, just because of the economic situation. So that would be going out to bid. I did talk to Lynn Edwards, who's with the company that's bringing the salt in from Kansas. They are going to be bidding…and he's very confident in the number that he quoted to the other communities of $105 a ton plus inbound freight," Cappuzzello said.
Cappuzzello said that if that quote holds true, the final price would be around $115 per ton, and that there was a chance another supplier may still offer a lower price per ton when bids open on Aug. 5.
"Hopefully $115 a ton give or take will be the number we get. If by some chance one of the other companies bid on it and come in lower, so be it. But we're going to hold our breath and hope that $115 is going to be good for us," Cappuzzello said.
Council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4.